Tags

Label notes with #tags in the text or in the tags property, nest and colour them, and find every note that carries one.

A tag is a short label, like #reading, that you can put on any note to gather it with others. You can write a tag in the text, right where it applies, or add it to the note's tags property. Either way the note appears on the tag's page and in tag searches. The one exception is a database filter on Tags, which only reads the tags property.

A note titled Book club: October. The tags row under the title holds #book-club; the text below has #reading/fiction and #to-read at the end of two sentences. — One tag in the tags property, two written in the text. All three are the note's tags.

Write a tag in the text

Type #, the tag's name and a space. Terra turns it into a tag, and a list of matching tags appears as you type, so you can pick an existing one with the arrow keys and Return.

We picked The Dispossessed for November. #reading/fiction

We picked The Dispossessed for November. #reading/fiction

Rule	Example
Letters, digits, `_`, `-` and `/` are allowed	#to-read, #q4_goals
A tag needs at least one letter	#books-2026 is a tag; #2026 on its own isn't
A tag ends at a space or any other character	in `#reading, #books` the comma isn't part of the tag
`#` stuck to the end of a word isn't a tag	`C#`, `issue#4`
Capitals count	#Reading and #reading are two tags

A # followed by a space at the start of a line makes a heading, not a tag, and text in code isn't read for tags.

Add tags with the tags property

The tags row under a note's title is a list of tags that belong to the note as a whole, without appearing in its text.

Click + at the end of the tags row. Pick tags from the list, or type a new one in Add option... and press Return. Click × on a tag to remove it.
Or click Tag note (#) in the editor toolbar, then click a tag in the list. To make a new one, type it in Search or create tag and click Create tag with its name; pressing Return doesn't create it. Terra confirms with Tagged: #reading. This list only adds tags; remove them in the tags row.

The Tag note button in the editor toolbar, open, with a Search or create tag field above book-club (ticked), books, reading, reading/fiction and to-read. — Tag note adds a tag to the tags property. A tick marks tags the note already has.

In the file, the property is a list of names without the #, while tags in the text stay exactly where you wrote them (other properties left out here):

---
title: The Dispossessed
tags:
- books
- reading
---
## First impressions

Two worlds that keep arguing with each other. #reading/fiction

A tag in the text isn't copied into the tags property, or the other way round. Terra also reads a list written on one line, such as tags: [books, reading].

Nested tags

Put a / in a tag to file it under another: #reading/fiction and #reading/nonfiction sit under #reading in the Tag Manager, as long as #reading is a tag too. Nesting is only for organising the list. A note tagged #reading/fiction isn't on the #reading page and doesn't match a search for tag:reading; search for the full name, tag:"reading/fiction".

Colour a tag

Right-click a tag, in the text or in the tags row, and click a colour. The menu also has Open tag page, Search tag and Copy tag. A tag's colour is the same everywhere in the Library.

The menu for #to-read: Open tag page, Search tag, Copy tag, and a grid of colours with yellow selected. — Right-click a tag to colour it, open its page or search for it.

Find notes with a tag

Click a tag in the text to open its page: every note with that tag, listed like a database.
⌘-click it, or right-click it and choose Search tag, to open the search window with tag:to-read filled in.
Search with tag: yourself to combine tags and other filters: tag:reading -tag:abandoned finds notes tagged #reading but not #abandoned. The tag must match exactly, capitals included. See Search syntax.
In a database, filter or group on Tags. This reads the tags property only, not tags in the text. See Filter, sort and group.

Manage tags

The Tag Manager lists every tag in the Library and whether it's in use. Open it with the Tag manager button in the toolbar, or Tools › Tag Manager…. Nested tags appear under their parent.

The Tag Manager listing abandoned (Unused), book-club, books, reading with fiction nested under it, and to-read. reading is selected; on the right are its name, how it looks in a note, its colour and Merge into. — The Tag Manager. Select a tag to rename it, change its colour or merge it into another.

Select a tag, or click ⋯ on its row, to:

Rename it: choose Rename from the ⋯ menu, type the new name and press Return. There's no confirmation.
Merge into another tag. Terra asks Merge options?, says how many notes will change and warns that it can't be undone. Click Merge. Renaming a tag to a name that already exists merges the two the same way.
Change its Color or Glyph.
Open tag page to see its notes.
Delete tag, for tags no note uses. To find them, click the filter button and choose Unused.

Properties: the tags row is one of a note's properties.
Search syntax: tag: and every other filter.
Databases: collect every note with a tag in one view.